User:MishMich/LGBT violence

Criminal violence, legal and police responses

Acts of violence considered to have been inspired by hatred of LGBT people, legislative changes, police and judicial responses, by country.

UK

1950: an early example

• On July 31st 1950, in Rotherham, an English schoolteacher, Kenneth Crowe, aged 37, was found dead wearing his wife's clothes and a wig. He had approached a miner on his way home from the pub, who upon discovering Crowe was male, beat and strangled him. John Cooney was found not guilty of murder and sentenced to five years for manslaughter.

1988: Section 28

• In 1988, the Conservative government passed legislation known as 'Section 28' which prohibited promotion of homosexuality in schools and local authorities in move that has been by some commentators as a step towards recriminalisation of homosexuality

1989-1990: West London murders

London gay pub bombing in 1999 killed three and injured 70

• Towards the end of 1989 and the start of 1990, there were a series of unsolved murders in west London over a period of six months.
  • In September 1989, Christopher Schliach, a barrister who was gay, was murdered in his home; he was stabbed more than 40 times.
  • Three months later, Henry Bright, a hotelier who was gay, was also stabbed to death at his home..
  • A month later, William Dalziel, a hotel porter who was gay, was found unconscious on a roadside in Acton, west London. He died from severe head injuries.
  • Three months after this, actor Michael Boothe was murdered in west London (see below 2007 Met review)
• In July 1990, following these murders, hundreds of lesbians and gay men marched from the park where Boothe had been killed to Ealing town hall and held a candlelit vigil.
• The demonstration led to the formation of OutRage, who called for the police to start protecting gay men instead of arresting them.
• In September 1990, lesbian and gay police officers established the Lesbian and Gay Police Association (Lagpa/GPA).

1999: The Admiral Duncan pub bombing

• In May 1999, the Admiral Duncan, a gay pub in Soho was bombed by British National Party member David Copeland, killing three people and wounding at least 70.

2002: CPS 'zero tolerance'

• On the 27 Nov. 2002, The UK's Crown Prosecution Service announced a 'zero tolerance' approach towards perpetrators of anti-gay offenses; this also covers transsexuals. Crimes considered 'homophobic' or 'transphobic' are to be assessed in a similar way to those considered racist (e.g. the victim regarding them as such)."There is no statutory definition of a homophobic or transphobic incident. However, when prosecuting such cases, and to help us to apply our policy on dealing with cases with a homophobic or transphobic element, we adopt the following definition: 'Any incident which is perceived to be homophobic or transphobic by the victim or by any other person.'”

2003: Criminal Justice Act

• The Criminal Justice Act 2003 is passed, in which section 146 empowers courts to impose tougher sentences for offenses motivated or aggravated by the victim's sexual orientation in England and Wales.

2006: first prosecution for homophobic murder

• On the 14th October 2005, London, UK. Jody Dobrowski was beaten to death on Clapham Common by two men who perceived him as being gay; Dobrowski was beaten so badly he had to be identified by his fingerprints. Thomas Pickford and Scott Walker were given life sentences in what was described as a 'homophobic murder' in June 2006. This was the first prosecution in Britain where Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 was used in sentencing the killers; this enabled the courts to impose a tougher sentence for offenses motivated or aggravated by the victim's sexual orientation, in this case a minimum of 30 years in prison.

2007: Metropolitan Police review

John Atherton, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, was hanged for sodomy under a law that he had helped to institute. His lover was John Childe, his steward and tithe proctor, also hanged. Anonymous pamphlet, 1641.

• In July 2004 an independent inquiry into police procedures carried out by the independent Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Advisory Group for the Metropolitan Police was announced. In May 2007 the report for the independent review was relased; it had examined how detectives had handled 10 murders of gay men or transsexuals. The report found that some poice inquiries were hampered by lack of knowledge, reliance on unfounded stereotypes and personal prejudices; these problems were mirrored and exacerbated by media coverage. The review recognised that Scotland Yard's work with the gay, lesbian and transsexual communities and its investigative processes had improved significantly since the 1990s, but warned that more radical steps were needed. The cases reviewed, and the findings, included:
  • Actor Michael Boothe, in west London died in April 1990, beaten to death by a gang of up to six men close to a public lavatory. the police said he had been the victim of "an extraordinarily severe beating, of a merciless and savage nature". He managed to give a description of his attackers before he died, and a reward of £15,000 was offered, but nobody was caught, and the crime was not solved. The police review identified institutional homophobia within the Metropolitan Police as a factor.
  • Colin Ireland, age 43, who in 1993 was jailed for life for murdering five gay men. Ireland picked up the men at pubs in London, and then killed them in their own homes. A Scotland Yard review showed that Ireland's capture was hampered by institutional homophobia within the Metropolitan Police.
  • Andrew Collier, a housing warden, aged 33, was one of Ireland's victims; the murder was classified as homophobic and linked with the death of Peter Walker, Ireland's first victim. The report said the police could have done more to warn the community of the links between the murders.
  • Emanuel Spiteri, age 41, who was strangled to death in his flat in Catford by Ireland, after meeting in a pub in Earls Court, west London.
  • Robyn Brown, a 23-year-old transsexual prostitute, was found stabbed to death in her flat in London on February 28, 1997. The original report described her as being 23-year-old Gemma Browne, formerly James Darwin Browne. The case went cold for over ten years, but her killer, James Hopkins, was eventually caught; in January 2009 he was jailed for life. The report found that identifying her to the public using different names may have hampered attempts to connect with relevant communities.
  • June 2000, south-east London, UK. Jaap Bornkamp, a 52 year old florist, was knifed in a homophobic attack; the murder remains unsolved despite the police displaying 20ft by 10ft images of CCTV footage taken near the murder scene. He was attacked after leaving a night club, and the police are reported as saying there was no confrontation or argument, but that the attack was homophobic and unprovoked. The report found this case to have been a model of police good practice.
  • Geoffrey Windsor, 57, in south London died in June 2002 from head injuries in a park after he was beaten and robbed. The police said the murder was motivated by homophobia. A review of this and similar cases in the area highlighted poor policing due to institutional homophobia within the police, particularly in not taking previous attacks in the area more seriously.

2000-2009: Other examples

• • 5th March 2000, Suffolk, UK. Bryan Hooley's body was found washed up on a beach bound in chains. Hooley was a post-operative transsexual in dispute with his ex-wife over custody of their child. Charles Halfacree, 37, killed 27-year-old Bryan Hooley and hid the body in a shed before eventually dumping him in the North Sea. Halfacree, admitted manslaughter and was sentenced to four years in prison. Charles Halfacree's sister, Alison Hooley the victim’s ex-wife was jailed for 19 months for conspiring to pervert the course of justice. Bryan Hooley's death was in no way connected with his transsexualism.
  • In July 2005, Lauren Harries, a transwoman, was attacked along with her father and brother in their home in Cardiff by eight youths who shouted the word "tranny" (transphobic abuse) while beating their victims. One youth pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to two years probation; his accomplices were not formally identified or charged.
  • 25 July 2008, 18 year old Michael Causer was attacked by a group of men at a party in Liverpool, and died from his injuries. It is alleged that he was killed because he was gay.
  • October 23, 2008 - 23 year-old gay hairdresser, Daniel Jenkinson, was the victim of a homophobic attack in a Preston club. His attacker, Neil Bibby, 22, also from Preston, was sentenced to 200 hours' unpaid work, a three-month weekend curfew, and ordered to pay £2,000 compensation after he pleaded guilty to assault. Daniel needed facial reconstruction surgery after the attack, and says he is too scared to go out in the city.
  • On March 3, 2009 in Bromley, south London, UK. 59 year old Gerry Edwards was stabbed to death by an assailant shouting homophobic abuse. His partner of over twenty years, 56 year old Chris Bevan, was also stabbed and admitted to hospital in a critical condition. The police dealing with the case said they had an open mind, but were treating it as a homophobic murder; two men were subsequently arrested.

2009: Prosecution for verbal violence

• • On the 15 May, 2009, A UK court found two football fans guilty of shouting homophobic chants at footballer Sol Campbell during a match.

Eire

• The beating to death of Declan Flynn in Fairview Park, Dublin, in 1983. The murder and subsequent suspended sentences of the perpetrators who pleaded guilty to murder saw the emergence of a more vocal gay community in the aftermath.

Australia

• On December 3, 2007, Craig Gee was attacked by four men whilst holding his boyfriend's hand walking down Crown Street in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia. Part of his skull was reduced to powder and his leg was broken during the attack. This incident prompted a vigil against the rising level of homophobia in the city and alleged apathy from police,, and despite the attack, Gee and his boyfriend joined the Chief of Parade Margaret Cho to lead the 2008 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.

Canada

• On November 17, 2001, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Aaron Webster, a gay man, was beaten to death with baseball bats and pool cues in a part of Stanley Park known for cruising. Ryan Cran, along with two unidentified youths, was convicted of manslaughter in Webster's death. Cran was paroled in February 2009 after serving four years of a six-year sentence.
• On May 29, 2007, Michael Marcil, better known as drag queen Dixie Landers was beaten outside of an Ottawa, Ontario gay pub. Andrew Lefebvre and Sheri-Lee Rand have been charged for the attack.
• November 3, 2008 - Anji Dimitriou and Jane Currie were physically assaulted at an Oshawa, Ontario public school, while waiting to pick up their children. Mark Scott, the attacker, punched both women in the face, referring to them as "men," "fucking dyke bitches" and spitting in Dimitriou's face. He is in court in Jan. 2009, for two counts of assault causing bodily harm.

Jamaica

• On June 5, 2004, Jamaican gay rights activist Brian Williamson was murdered in Kingston. His killer, Dwight Hayden, who used a machete to stab and chop him some 70 times, pleaded guilty and received a life sentence.
• In December 2005, a Jamaican mob chased an alleged gay man who, fearful of the crowd, jumped into the water and drowned.
• In April 2006, students rioted at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and attacked an alleged gay student.
• On February 14, 2007, a group of gay men, including gay-rights activist Gareth Williams, were stoned by a mob in Mandeville, Jamaica. Their attackers reportedly had earlier demanded that the men leave the community.
• On April 8, 2007, approximately 100 men gathered outside a church where 150 people were attending the funeral of a gay man in Mandeville, Jamaica. According to mourners, the crowd broke the windows with bottles and shouted, “We want no battyman [gay] funeral here. Leave or else we’re going to kill you. We don’t want no battyman buried here in Mandeville.”
• In January, 2008, three gay men were attacked in the privacy of their dwelling by an angry mob who had days before threatened them if they did not leave the community in Mandeville, Jamaica. According to reports, two men were hospitalised, one with serious injuries, while another man is still missing and feared dead.

New Zealand

• The murder in Wellington, New Zealand, on May 8, 1999, of supposedly gay teenager Jeff Whittington, who was beaten, kicked, and stomped to death by two men who reportedly later boasted of beating up a "faggot". Whittington's attackers, Jason Morris Meads and Stephen James Smith, were sentenced to life in prison.

Israel

• On June 30, 2005, Yishai Shlisel, a Haredi Jew, was charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing three marchers in a gay pride parade in Jerusalem, Israel, claiming he acted "in the name of God".

South Africa

• In November 1999, Blah Bar, a gay bar in Cape Town, South Africa, was bombed, injuring two people.

France

• The non-fatal stabbing of Bertrand Delanoë, the openly gay mayor of Paris, in October 2002.

Spain

• On January 13, 2006, Julio Anderson Luciano and his fiancé, Isaac Ali Dani Peréz Triviño, were killed in the home they shared with Peréz Triviño's mother in the Spanish city of Vigo. Jacobo Piñeiro Rial, who stabbed them 22 and 35 times, respectively, then set fire to the home, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for arson after being acquitted by a jury of murder charges on a "gay panic" defence.

Portugal

• In February 2006, Gisberta Salce Júnior, a Brazilian transsexual living in Oporto, Portugal, was tortured and raped with sticks over a period of three days, then tossed into a water-filled pit and left to die. A group of adolescent boys admitted to the attack and received suspended sentences.

Croatia

• On July 7, 2007, 30 participants at a gay pride event in Croatia were attacked by multiple assailants. The attackers had also prepared Molotov cocktails but were stopped by the police before using them. Many people taking part in Gay Pride marches in Eastern Europe (e.g: Romania, Russia, Serbia) have been beaten after leaving the marches.

Serbia

• On June 30, 2001, hundreds of Serbian nationalists, skinheads, and soccer hooligans attacked participants of the first Serbian Pride Parade in Belgrade.

Sierra Leone

• On September 28, 2004, Sierra Leonean gay and lesbian rights activist FannyAnn Eddy was raped and murdered while working in her Freetown office. Police ruled the attack unrelated to Eddy's activism. Her alleged attacker escaped from police custody and has not been prosecuted.

Brazil

• In September 2007, Osvan Inacio dos Santos, 19, was attacked and murdered in a street near a bar where he had just won the local "Miss Gay" competition in the town of Batingas in northeast Brazil. dos Santos' naked body was found on Sunday morning and forensic examination found his skull had been fractured and indicated sexual assault.
• In February 2008, Brazilian gay rights activist Alexandre Peixe dos Santos was attacked and beaten at the Sao Paulo's Gay Pride Association offices in Brazil. Activists estimate that more than 2,680 gay people were murdered in Brazil between 1980 and 2006.

St. Maarten

• On April 6, 2006, two American television producers, CBS Evening News senior producer Richard Jefferson and 48 Hours producer-researcher Ryan Smith, were severely beaten with a tire iron outside the Sunset Beach Bar on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten. Three men and one woman were convicted and sentenced to prison for the attack, which was ruled a hate crime.